The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1909. THE LICENSING ELECTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2443, 6 March 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 6,1909. THE LICENSING ELECTION.

It is evident that the nomination of the six gentlemen avlio may for the. purposes of convenience be described as “outsiders” has had the effect of concentrating a good deal of attention upon the coming election of a Licensing Committee for the Cisborne district. This is as it should be, for, as we pointed out when first touching upon this question, the issues involved are much too important to bo removed from the sphere of public affairs. Take the case of the hotels within the borough! It is a matter of common knowledge that no town in the Dominion is so badly off in regard to accommodation for the travelling public as is Gisborne. It •is just as obvious that the bar trade is so extensive and lucrative that there is no excuse for the hotels in question refusing to provide much better facilities for accommodation than are available at the present time. It is likewise a. fact that the extraordinary prevalence of drunkenness in. this town is the direct result of a laxity in the conduct of the bar trade. It would be unfair to blame the old committee for all of these faults, but it would likewise be useless to urge that they had done all that could be done to bring about an improvement. Tfio “lambing-down ease,” which was exposed by this journal some time book, could never have occurred had the Licensing Committee. taken ,& stricter view of its responsibilities in issuing licenses. But the election which is fixed to take place on Tuesday .covers a much larger field than the Borough of Gisborne, as the electorate spreads from Ormond to Wairoa. In the country districts there are many hotels which are so badly conducted at the present time that they have no claim to receive a license. Yet the Licensing Committee in the past has renewed without question time after time tho licenses of many premises which aro nothing more nor less than “grog shanties.” Without mentioning. any name we can state frankly enough that there have been on tho committee in the past more than one individual who have been, entirely incapable j of taking a broad comprehensive view

mf their duties on the Licensing ■Benehif Amongst the hall-marked candidates for the new committee is a gentleman of - whom it will be conceded by his best friends that lie is , by nature and training absolutely incapable of taking up a judicial attitude upon any subject. Yet such a man is confidently put forward by one of the interested organisations, and a great outcry is raised because an individual who is not the nominee of* any party ventures to enter the arena as a candidate for a public position. There is no gainsaying the fact that there is room for a searching inquiry into the conduct of a -large number of licensed houses in the Gisborne electorate, and for this reason it behoves the electors to select the best possible committee from thoso who have placed their services at. tlie disposal of the public. Some correspondents, judging oy the tone of their communications, assumed that we had some fault to find with the action of the No-License League in putting forth its candidates. This is distinctly an error. AVe consider that the No-License League, whose splendid' work in the interest of the community wo are always ready to recognise, acted properly in nominating its own representatives. As a matter ol fact, we consider the League committed a tactical -blunder in compromising with the licensed victuallers instead of running a full ticket. Similarly we can scarcely blame the licensed victuallers for desiring representation on a body which can so vitally affect the business which, is responsible for the individual prosperity of its members. AVhere we do join issue is at the absurdity of either of tlie two organisations becoming angry because some gentlemen not members of either body should have ventured to offer their services in the same connection. The excuse of husbanding the? borough resources is too ridiculous to hold water for a single moment. It is manifestly unfair that because the borough finances are at present in a straitened condition the whole of the Gisborne electorate should be penalised. Tie reputation of the district and the welfare of the community is directly dependent upon tlie manner in which the licensed hotels are conducted, and under the circumstances it is simply astounding to find No-License enthusiasts opposing a straight-out election in favor of tlie “let-it-slide” policy, which was the other alternative. However, the election is now definitely to take place, and our own view is that those who have made it possible for every elector to voice his views upon the questions we have raised nave, wmie ca-uji.. 5 out the democratic ideal of the Licensing Act, at the same time conferred a real benefit upon the local community.